News

Bethel University Named Champions of Character Five-Star Institution for Second Year in a Row

12/7/2013

11:52 pm

Bethel University has been named a Champions of Character Five-Star Institution for the 2012-13 school year, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced recently. It marks the second consecutive year the school has been awarded the prestigious award.

"I am very proud of the quality student athletes we have here at Bethel University and I am pleased to see that quality recognized by the NAIA," Bethel Athletic Director Dale Kelley said.

The NAIA uses a Champions of Character Scorecard to measure each institution's commitment to the Champions of Character program. Institutions earn points in five key areas: character training, conduct in competition, academic focus, character recognition and character promotion. The schools' points earnings are based on exceptional student-athlete grade point averages and by having zero ejections during competition throughout the course of the academic year. Conferences receive a Five-Star rating if 60 percent of their membership meets the criteria. Schools that reach a 60 or higher point total are recognized on the NAIA Champions of Character website and receive a special web banner and certificate noting the honor.

The institution's president and athletic director will be recognized at the annual NAIA convention next spring. The NAIA's model of intercollegiate athletics simultaneously promotes competitive athletics, academic excellence and character values, a process based on the NAIA's flagship program Champions of Character. The initiative, launched in 2000 in response to the growing problem of deteriorating standards of integrity in sports and society, emphasizes the five core values of integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship and servant leadership.

Alex Debonis, Assistant Professor of English

Testimonial

"How students reason and acquire knowledge is at least as important as the hard data they memorize. In my classes, the students and I work to cultivate in ourselves what the late writer David Foster Wallace calls the “Democratic Spirit,” which he defines as an attitude that “combines rigor and humility, i.e., passionate conviction plus sedulous respect for the conviction of others.” It seems likely that “Democratic Spirit” offers all of us the only way to effectively address the thorny problems of our own time as well as those of the future."

Students from any major can sign up to take SOC 490 (Global Service Learning), a course offered by Bethel's Sociology department that provides students with opportunities to learn and serve around the globe.This year's service project will take place in Cali, Colombia June 1-10, 2015 and will involve teaching English at Colegio Americano, a school affiliated with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.